Questions & Answers about Minä saan kirjeen sieltä.
Why is the word for letter written as kirjeen instead of kirje?
The -en ending shows that the letter is the direct object of the action. When you get, buy, or take a whole thing, Finnish usually adds an -n or -en to the end of the word to mark it as the object.
What is the dictionary form of the verb saan?
The base verb is saada, which means to get or to receive. To make it I get, you drop the -da ending and add the personal ending for I, which is -n, making it saan.
Why does the sentence use sieltä instead of siellä?
In Finnish, location words change based on movement and direction. Siellä means being stationary there. Because you are getting the letter from that location, you must use sieltä, which specifically means from there.
How do we know it translates to the letter and not a letter?
Finnish does not have articles like a or the. The exact same sentence can mean I get a letter from there or I get the letter from there. You just have to choose the one that makes the most sense based on the context of the conversation.
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